Knowage Reviews

Name: Knowage
Brand: Knowage
Rating: 3.8 (18 reviews)

Vendor: Knowage

3.8 out of 5

18 reviews
85% willing to recommend

5,227 followers

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What is Knowage?

Knowage (formerly SpagoBI) has a 14-years history. The actual release is the 6.3.

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Knowage is the #24 ranked solution in top Reporting Tools and #32 ranked solution in top Business Intelligence Tools. PeerSpot users give Knowage an average rating of 7.6 out of 10. Based on the analysis of the 18 most recent Knowage reviews, the overall sentiment is positive, with a sentiment score of 6.8. Knowage is most commonly compared to Microsoft Power BI: Knowage vs Microsoft Power BI. Knowage is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 53% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 16% of all views.

Helped 830,455 peers since 2012

Featured reviews

AbdulshukoorMohammed

General Manager Information Technology & Enterprise Applications Manager at OXFORD HOLDING

The only challenge here is that it's a Java-based platform. It requires very high technical skills. When we come to the integration with the single sign-on facilities, that part is very challenging. In Power BI and other tools, it's very easy to integrate with active directory and single sign-on, and identity management is very easy in other business intelligence tools. However, when it comes to Knowage, it's a bit heavy, it's time-consuming sometimes, it's not very fast, and definitely not as fast as other business intelligence tools in terms of getting graphical reports. The solution could be cheaper.

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Albert Masanja

Margin Assurance Analyst at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

It would be better if more resources were available to help us learn how to use it. I wanted to use Knowage for a more extended period, but learning materials around the product were not really available and were not really straightforward. I've also seen inconsistencies between versions. For example, under the tools, especially in the cockpit, the way you create reports is now different. You will also find some configurations within a particular state, like a line chart, which differs from version to version. I think consistency is an essential feature in a product, especially for business intelligence products.

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it_user520557

Senior Project Manager at Indra Company

In my project, I used the 2.0 version of product. It had some room for improvement and features that the latest version now has. For example: the new users interface, improved performance of the analytical engines, etc. Nonetheless, there is room for further improvement. As all software and especially the open-source ones have always something that can work better, in this case, SpagoBI is slightly difficult to implement. However, in my opinion, it is much better than other open-source solutions and otherwise is in line with what the open-source market has offered over the years. For this reason, one of the rooms for improvement is certainly the user friendliness of product. Another point of improvement is the robustness, but open-source software has a major advantage over closed-source software, and that is the source code can be reviewed by a large number of highly diverse programmers and developers of the community. Thus, it is easier to find and correct errors than when the code is reviewed only by in-house programmers who are often under pressure to meet deadlines and who might not have strong incentives to find and eliminate all the bugs.

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Knowage mindshare

Product category:

As of January 2025, the mindshare of Knowage in the Reporting category stands at 0.7%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Reporting

PeerAnalyst reports

Type	Title	Date
Category	Reporting	Jan 9, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Jan 9, 2025	Download
Comparison	Knowage vs Microsoft Power BI	Jan 9, 2025	Download
Comparison	Knowage vs Tableau	Jan 9, 2025	Download
Comparison	Knowage vs Oracle OBIEE	Jan 9, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Microsoft Power BI	4.0	26.8%	93%	315 interviews Add to research
Tableau	4.2	23.7%	89%	295 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Knowage offers QbE, Hibernate support, integration with Liferay and ExoPortal, data mining with Weka, GIS, big data integration, and BIRT report deployment. It features a unified interface, standalone SDK, parameter GUI components, scheduling jobs, SpagoBI's analytical model, and flexible self-service BI. Users appreciate dynamic dashboards, KPIs, multiplatform usage, historical reporting, SQL script compatibility, Python correlation, user-role information, Jasper report deployment, and embedding capabilities for ERP systems. Open-source and free usage is emphasized.

"The embedding feature is great."
"I can't name the features the way the Knowage community calls them because I still don't know the lingo. However, I can describe them. I like the ability to join more than one report, set all fields on one end, and replicate that on the other reports. I like that a lot. I think it's one of the features that got me using Knowage. They have tables, and I like that too. They took SQL scripts and many other scripts and enabled them to even correlate with Python. That's also one of the best things about Knowage. You could also decide to get information per user role, and this is also a feature that I like in Knowage."
"We can easily do our own customizations."

Room for Improvement

Knowage requires enhancements in areas such as user interface, robustness, and integration capabilities. The platform lacks global report parameters, leading to inefficiencies. Complex tasks can slow down operations. Users express a need for a better-developed documentation and help resources. The dashboard component capabilities could be expanded. Consistency issues between versions are noted, and the integration process is cumbersome. It demands advanced technical skills and improvements in pricing strategy.

"The dashboard components could be better."
"It would be better if more resources were available to help us learn how to use it. I wanted to use Knowage for a more extended period, but learning materials around the product were not really available and were not really straightforward.I've also seen inconsistencies between versions. For example, under the tools, especially in the cockpit, the way you create reports is now different. You will also find some configurations within a particular state, like a line chart, which differs from version to version. I think consistency is an essential feature in a product, especially for business intelligence products."
"The only challenge here is that it's a Java-based platform. It requires very high technical skills."

Pricing

Enterprises report that Knowage offers an open-source option, which many utilize as it is free to use under the Mozilla Public License. Users often customize on top of the community edition. Knowage also provides an enterprise edition with varied licensing models. Opinions on the pricing and options are mixed, with some expressing partial satisfaction. Licensing is generally viewed as accommodating, supporting both community and commercial use.

"Knowage is open-source, and an enterprise edition is also available."
"It allows the implementation of an effective reporting system using internal skills at a limited upfront cost."

Popular Use Cases

Organizations utilize Knowage for creating centralized data warehouses that facilitate integration, analysis, and retrieval of healthcare data for clinical and financial analytics. It aids in generating graphical reports, dashboards, and cockpits without third-party tools. Users employ Oracle scripts for profitability analysis and embedding reports for distribution. It supports big data concepts and simplifies ad hoc reporting, enhancing user experiences while enabling efficient data handling and business intelligence functionalities.

Service and Support

Knowage customer service is rated moderately, with some users finding it satisfactory and others considering it lacking, especially without support contracts. Experiences with technical support vary widely; some report effective assistance from commercial channels and community forums, while others rely on internal resources or struggle with community efforts. Paid support receives higher satisfaction. The open-source community provides a significant resource, although those without enterprise editions feel limited in official support options.

Deployment

Knowage's initial setup is generally straightforward, especially when deploying on personal computers, but there are some complexities. Users report challenges with configuring Java runtime and Apache server, and some manual steps are necessary. Organizations find that expertise is beneficial for quicker implementation. Most difficulties stem from security, permissions, and complex reporting requirements. Though setup requires some effort, knowledgeable teams manage deployment efficiently, with ongoing maintenance by existing IT personnel. Improvements in newer versions have addressed earlier issues.

Scalability

Users report mixed experiences with the scalability of Knowage. Some found no problems with scalability, citing support for clustering and high availability. Others faced challenges, mainly due to documentation gaps or needing proper ETL models for scaling. There were mentions of moderate scaling potential and impressive performance with increased user counts, although some required cloud environment upgrades for larger organizations. Restarting services was occasionally necessary when using Mobile and Desktop Editions.

Stability

Knowage shows variability in stability. Some experience no issues, while others face challenges with resource demands, deployment errors, and bugs. Initial setup might require substantial hardware configurations, especially on-prem. Community support aids problem resolution, though responses can be slow. Stability issues occurred in earlier versions but improved over time. For some, the transition from SpagoBI involved problems with volume processing, but satisfaction with stability increased. Java resource consumption is notable, but Knowage generally remains reliable.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Knowage Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers

By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

15%

Hospitality Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

University

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Media Company

Non Profit

Transportation Company

Individual & Family Service

Recruiting/Hr Firm

Retailer

Energy/Utilities Company

Logistics Company

Marketing Services Firm

Consumer Goods Company

Wholesaler/Distributor

Performing Arts

Legal Firm

Recreational Facilities/Services Company

Compare Knowage with alternative products

Learn more about Knowage

Knowage offers FULL ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES, with a special focus on big data analytics and comprehensive support to rich and multi-source data analysis. Knowage provides different modules, each one focused on a specific domain but mutually combinable (Big Data, Smart Intelligence, Enterprise Reporting, Location Intelligence, Performance Management, Predictive Analysis). Moreover, Knowage is an OPEN SOURCE solution: the source code is freely accessible, everyone is allowed to join the community and build the own business solution to ensure strategic decision-making and improved productivity.

Knowage suite is supported by Engineering Group, the leading Italian software and services company, with about 10,000 people and more than 50 offices worldwide. Maintenance and support services (such as trainings, migration support, proof-of-concepts, etc) are provided by Engineering Group (KNOWAGE Labs) under subscription.

Knowage was previously known as SpagoBI.

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Knowage customers

FIAT Group, Italian air navigation service provider,
Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Telecom Italia, ASL Genovese, San Giovanni Battista University Hospital